Today, December 1st, was the opening day of the candidate filing period for North Carolina’s 2016 elections. Candidates have three weeks to register, with filing closing on December 21st.

In order to make the most of the presidential primary, which is expected to draw out voters, lawmakers moved the primaries for federal, state, and local elections in North Carolina from May to March 15th. And that means filing has been moved forward too. Here’s New Hanover County Board of Elections Director Derek Bowens:

This Election Day, North Carolina voters will decide upon a constitutional amendment. If it is passed, North Carolina would be the last state in the country to allow defendants facing felony charges to opt out of a trial by jury.

Responding to complaints made by the New Hanover County Democratic Party, the New Hanover County Board of Elections denies any alleged disenfranchisement of student voters. There have been no reports of voters being turned away for any reason, including inability to state their street addresses.

In New Hanover County, dormitory students who cannot state their street address will not be allowed to cast a regular ballot in the coming election. The New Hanover County Democratic Party is challenging this procedure, saying it disenfranchises student voters.

The 2014 state legislative elections could be the last in which voters don’t have to comply with the Voter Information Verification Act of 2013—also known as VIVA. This controversial law, which requires ballot-casting North Carolinians to present photo ID, goes into effect just in time for the federal elections of 2016, and could render 200,000 citizens ineligible to vote. In order to identify at-risk voters in New Hanover County, the Board of Elections will be screening for IDs throughout this year.